Former Armenian Prime Minister : Money transfers to foreign countries forbidden in Armenia

The recent devaluation of the Armenian dram was not artificial as presented by the governing authorities, but had its specific reasons, former Armenian Prime Minister Hrant Bagratyan said at a press conference.

According to Bagratyan, the reason for this recent devaluation of the dram is that Armenia’s trade balance is negative and there is a flowing out of capital.

In his words, the devaluation of the dram has now ceased because, according to information he possesses, money transfers to foreign countries have been forbidden.

The next step that has contributed to the valuation of dram, according to him, is that Central Bank of Armenia has decreased the fifth norm (of the five norms) defined for commercial banks and called “currency position.”

“[They] have lowered the indexes, the norms so that the commercial banks sell their currency. They are now taking such steps to preserve the currency rate. I want to tell them that I consider such steps to be dangerous,” said Bagratyan, adding that that could be a big blow to the entire banking system.

Saying the he did not want to make forecasts, Bagratyan mentioned that the devaluation of Armenian dram would continue during the year.

The former PM is surprised by the fact that investors did not complain in relation to the 20-percent devaluation in investments kept in Armenian dram.


/Tert.am/